Boiler MACT Compliance

The city of Hamilton, OH Municipal Electric Plant (Hamilton), operates a pulverized coal fired boiler (No. 8) subject to the boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards issued by the US EPA. EQ Engineers, LLC (EQE) has been employed by Hamilton to study and evaluate options for achieving MACT standards on a consistent basis as part of an overall compliance plan. The current configuration of the ductwork leading into the Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) is not producing a uniform flow pattern. It is believed that the variation in flow velocity across the face is contributing to particulate matter (PM) emissions that exceed the MACT standards.

Wind Energy

The issue of transferring learned concepts to practical applications is a widespread problem in postsecondary education. Related to this issue is a critical demand to educate and train a generation of professionals for the wind energy industry. With initiatives such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s “20% Wind Energy by 2030” outlining an exponential increase of wind energy capacity over the coming years, revolutionary educational reform is needed to meet the demand for education in the field of wind energy.

Venturi Scrubber

A venturi scrubber is a device which utilizes liquid to remove fine particulates from gaseous streams. ArcelorMittal USA has developed a pollution control process using venturi scrubber for removal of particulates from the exhaust gas in a sinter plant. However, excessive wear on the side wall of the throat has been found leading to considerable production downtime. Achieving a reduction in wear and effective optimization of the scrubber’s performance with increased efficiency requires a better understanding of the flow inside the device. In this condition, a new methodology is required to simulate the venturi scrubber operation in order to optimize the design.

3D Wind Field Construction with High Performance Computing and VR Visualization

Wind energy, as one of the cleanest renewable energy, is becoming increasingly important. Both the installed wind power and the generated energy are increasing by 30% per year world-wide. Economical performance of a wind turbine is determined by the efficiency of the blade. If the airflow over wind turbine blades could be controlled fully, the generation efficiency and thus the energy production would increase by 9%.

Air flows over wind turbine blades are typically complex unsteady turbulent features due to the changes in the angle of attack and to unsteady flow separation at high angles of attack. To accurately capture the important turbulent atmospheric boundary layer features is the key issue to successfully design and optimize wind turbine blades. Visualization technique can be very helpful in achieving this goal.

FGD Inlet Ductwork

R.M Schahfer Units 17 & 18 are Combustion Engineering (CE) tangential firing PC boilers with net full load output of 361 MW. They currently burn Illinois bituminous fuel and are equipped with limestone wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems for SO2 control. The flue gas will come into contact with limestone slurry in the absorber for SO2 removal. Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation (CIVS) at Purdue University Calumet (PUC) was contracted by Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) to conduct computational fluid dynamics modeling of the R.M Schahfer generating station Units 17 & 18 FGD inlet flue gas duct. Flue gas from the boiler is introduced to the FGD system absorber through the ID fan outlets, FGD inlet plenum and the FGD inlet duct.